And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation – as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.

II Peter 3:15

God wants us to understand His character, and the practical effect it has upon us.  Peter relates God’s longsuffering to our salvation.  This is part of the discussion of Christ’s return.  When Peter was answering the scoffer’s charge, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’ He said, the Lord ‘is longsuffering to usward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.’  When he comes to our text, he summarizes his previous statement by saying, ‘the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.’  It is God’s stated intention that all for whom Christ died shall come to Christ before He returns.  The longsuffering of God, which is the outflowing of His Character, guarantees that He will bring to salvation all those whom He has given unto Christ.  This gives us blessed assurance and encouragement to preach Christ.  We know that God is performing His plan and shows His longsuffering, therefore He has given us abundant opportunity to be a part of the carrying out of the advancement of His plan.  This is a great privilege and a wonderful opportunity.  We rejoice in the preaching of Christ and in the way he uses it.

Our All-powerful and All-wise God,
we rejoice at Your unchanging character.
We praise You that it results in an overwhelmingly beneficial
effect for all of Your people.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blame.

II Peter 3:14

How shall we make best use of our time while we look forward to the new heavens and the new earth which Christ will bring to be?  We understand that the future holds great promise, that ‘Jesus shall reign where’er the sun, does his successive journeys run.’  We have to live in the present, even though we have an eye to the future.  Peter offers some practical advice, ‘Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blame.’  Here is some useful counsel.  In essence, ‘You are looking forward to the return of Christ, the new heavens and new earth, so, when Christ arrives let Him find you as Christlike as possible.’  How will that be?  We know our struggles, our failures, and our inconsistencies.  How can we ‘be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless?’  It is very much a matter of fixing our eyes upon Christ.  All the self-improvement, self-discipline, and self-confrontational plans and programs will not get us where looking to Christ will.  It is the contemplation of Christ that leads to the imitation of Christ.  We want to be found by Christ in peace, without spot and blameless.  He Alone can bring us to that condition by His Spirit.  As we diligently look to Christ, His Holy Spirit will work to conform us unto His image, so that when He arrives, He will find us in peace, without spot and blame. 

Our Good and Wise God,
we rejoice in the manner in which You accomplish our redemption.
We praise You that You make it a whole redemption
which transforms us in every way.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

II Peter 3:13

What is the end result of God’s overall plan of redemption?  It results in much more than personal salvation.  In the passage from which our text derives, Peter has reiterated and explained the promised return of Christ.  He has answered the critics who ask, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’  He has put the promise of God and the return of Christ in a larger frame of reference.  He has gone so far as to describe the end of the world in graphic terms.  In our text, Peter refers to the people of God and what they understand God has promised to do.  John describes this same future when he writes ‘now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  Also there was no more sea.’  He goes on to describe the circumstances by saying, ‘and I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’  This is what Peter is referring to in our text.  While these are not the only proofs from Scripture, they are significant, in that they agree about the future.  They also agree that Christ is at the center of this future. Of Christ, it says, ‘and there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.  They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.’  All that believers are, and all that they ever anticipate for the future, is vitally related to Christ.  Therefore, we make much of Him.  ‘The Lamb has all the glory, in Emmanuel’s land.’

Our Glorious, Living Christ,
we rejoice that You have secured our present
and guaranteed our future.
We praise You that we may look forward
without fear to what lies before us in this life,
knowing that it will bring us into Your eternal presence.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

II Peter 3:10

Peter associates the return of Christ with ‘the day of the Lord.’  In the passage in which our text appears, Peter has been discussing the return of Christ.  He has confirmed that Christ will return in due course of time according to the plan and purpose of God.  Having said that, Peter follows with our text.  This is perhaps one of the most apocalyptic verses in Scripture.  It literally describes the end of the world.  Just as the Scripture describes the beginning of the world, so it describes its’ end.  What is clear from the way Peter phrases it is that this is simply a matter of fact.  It also implicitly underscores that humanity is not in control of its’ own destiny.  While on the one hand we should behave responsibly toward the earth which God has given us to inhabit, we ought also to understand that the world as we know it will inevitably come to an end to pave the way for a ‘new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.’  All of this accompanies the return of Christ.  What we can do is to prepare ourselves today for what will inevitably come to pass.  This brings us to Christ Who is the Key to it all.

Our Glorious Living Christ
we rejoice at Your return with all that it entails.
We praise You that what You have planned
You will bring to pass and make all things new.

Tomm Tice
Where th Bush is Burning

Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’

II Peter 3:3&4

God gave Peter insight into the future.  Peter recorded what he understood.  Our text evidences that understanding.  As he writes, Peter describes a situation which he says will occur, ‘in the last days.’  He identifies people whom he calls ‘scoffers.’  Their question, which they ask in a skeptical and sarcastic tone is, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’  What they are challenging is Christ’s promise that He will return.  The rationale is that since the ancients died everything goes on without interruption.  That is based on their perception, which rests upon their accepted idea of history.  What the Scripture details in the following verse, refers to the fact of creation and declares that it is of this that they are, ‘willingly ignorant.’  This really comes down to faith.  Either we believe God’s account or we do not.  Our belief rests upon the underlying thoughts that God is; that He has revealed Himself; and that His revelation of Himself is to a great degree, in the Scriptures.  If we understand what the Scriptures reveal, then our response to the question posed by our text is, our time is not God’s time and our perceptions are not His reality.  Christ has said, ‘I am coming soon.’  We believe Him and trust in His timing.

Our All-powerful and All-wise God,
we rejoice that You do all things in Your own time,
and after the counsel of Your own will.
We praise You that Christ will return,
according to His will and finish what He has started.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning